‘Graft and resilience’. Those were the two words Lucy Bronze used to describe what the catalyst was for our impressive Champions League victory over Wolfsburg.
Victory in Germany saw us secure safe passage to the quarter-final stage of Europe’s premium club competition. It also saw us become the first English side to defeat Wolfsburg on home soil. Not a bad evening’s work.
The game didn’t come with its challenges, however. There was an early setback for Sonia Bompastor’s side when Alexandra Popp rifled a half-volley behind Livia Peng to put the hosts ahead.
This Chelsea side do not go under, though. We gained greater control as the first half progressed and grew in confidence, with Bronze at the heart of our comeback.
After making two key defensive contributions to deny Wolfsburg a second goal, Bronze rose highest to head home from a corner on the stroke of half-time. Game on.
Sam Kerr – who else? – then nudged us in front with a header of her own and from that point, we kept the Germans at bay to secure a mammoth victory.
After the game, Bronze was quick to praise the Blues’ performance and highlighted the strides we are making in Europe.
‘Today showed how we graft and how strong our resilience is,’ the England international stated. ‘Not only in this game but also against Barcelona last month.
‘We’ve shown we’ve made strides in the Champions League that we maybe didn’t have in previous seasons. It’s a different side to Chelsea, with maybe a little bit more maturity and character in the way we play and the way we face games in the Champions League.
‘I’ve played many times against Wolfsburg and we know they play right until the end. They’re physical and they never stop going. They could’ve scored right at the end as well. It was great to play against them and get the three points.
‘This is a really hard challenge. One of the toughest games in the Champions League is coming away to Wolfsburg; it has never been easy.
‘It was the first time an English team has won here, so it’s a good record to have finally cracked. Overall, both teams played really strongly right until the end, so it was an enjoyable game to play in.’
